NEW SITE: http://www.lilliandevin.com/

Yes, I know I’ve only been here a few months but my new site is so much cooler and will get better all the time : )

See you there: http://www.lilliandevin.com

A Bone to pick with T Boone Pickens

Alright, I must admit to this: I liked http://www.pickensplan.com/ T Boone Pickens plan at first glance, but just like anything else given the proper scrutiny, it has flaws…

 

Hmmm, but don’t we all? I know I hate having mine pointed out : ) but, this is an energy plan not a personal thing so I’ll pick on the Pickens. So, just what would the pros and cons be…see how I am, all accepting and gracious of his plan one minute and then playing the devil’s advocate and all that the next, hahaha…ya gotta love it though (no?)…

 

I got into the whole thing, too. I took copious notes which I later could not read due to my awful handwriting (though I have a cool signature). I also found load of links that went nowhere at all…its possible Yahoo! is so po’d at the Pick that they shut down some avenues of research.

 

Anyway, here’s what I did gather and here’s my opinion (for what it’s worth…)

 

The overview for those who missed Pick’s plan (how you might’ve done that I do not know, been under a rock for a week…?) see above link ’Pickens Plan’ for details but here let’s say half the plan calls for more ‘wind power’ and the other half for large scale conversion of autos/trucks to natural gas.

 

Lots of pros and an almost equal amount of cons…mmmm: less dependence on foreign oil, yes this makes us all smile – ah, but here’s that first flaw, isn’t natural gas yet another finite source of a carbon based fossil fuel? (Oh and I’m thinking of switching from heroin to cocaine myself…) it wreaks of same same but not totally…it isn’t optimal and oh it’s definitely self-serving for the P man; and yet it’s infinitely more workable than Gore’s vision of zero carbon use (especially if he keeps flying that jumbo jet around to give speeches).

 

As an aside, wow, the pros and cons not to mention the efficacy of the whole wind power thing is an entry or two in itself and maybe I’ll get to that also at a later  date.

 

Let me just add that wealth and power do not (usually) convert to causes just and a sudden conscience (come to Jesus meetings notwithstanding) so in this case do you care that this plan would be a huge boon to T Boone (too good of a pun to pass up, sorry)? And ask a Texan, or Pick even, they’ll tell you: no oil boom lasts forever and check out natural gas prices in 2000 there was an increase of 400%…oops…so apparently the same applies there also.

 

What would be wrong with increasing fuel efficacy standards, increasing development of plug in hybrid and electric vehicles, oh and hey how about a high speed railway, there’s a passage into the new millennium, hahaha…but nobody called and asked me, boo hoo…

 

Maybe the T man can go have a chat with the German government, they mandated the purchase by power companies of wind power and the variable nature of the generation drives them nuts; but you know, I hear Germans are easily driven to distraction (kidding…). If the wind fades at peak times they get slammed by costumers, if they maintain generators on standby it cost them more money, either way they’re screwed.

 

And there are other inefficient and damn inconvenient things that occur in the mid-west, in winter, ah yes…ice storms, etc…yep, damn inconvenient for full time efficacy…

 

Hee hee, I think this one quote from an unnamed source says it all, ‘I think when dealing with Ole’ T Bone one should keep their hands on their wallet.’

 

Another good q would be: is the Pick fishing for subsidies? Well, as they say in the mid-west windy regions, ‘oh, you betcha…’

 

Picks plan all sounded so good to me, still does actually, but now, it seems like the ‘better than nothing’ fix. I could feel more positive about it…I think it’s part of general disdain and mistrust for the man who is a billionaire that was reflected in the articles that did me in, but seriously, should we care about that if he does something positive for the US? Do people hate the super rich on general principles?? We all have nay-sayers so for the time being, I’m cutting Pick some slack, how about you?

 

Hey, the old man who said I was perfect at the gym, (last week ‘random acts of…’ well, he’s been kicking my ass with hour long workout sessions lately, so I asked him, ‘what happened to the ‘you’re perfect’ thing?’ He said, ‘yes, but your two weeks away from total perfection.’ Ok, I can deal with 2 weeks but after that plain ‘perfect’ is going to have to be good enough : ) 

Internet interaction: is that the real you?

I usually discuss hotter things on Hump Day but today…

…after receiving numerous e-mail’s from people I know in real life and several that post private comments here I decided I better stand up (or in this case kick it on my bed, laptop on knees) and address the issue.

I’d mentioned being not so Zen and in a ‘bit of a minor funk’ a few days back, and while I appreciate the outpouring of empathy, I only did it for one reason. I was just stating my fleeting 24 hour feeling, it was true and I figured why hide it? I also thought the funkiness might be detectable in my writing that day and you’d tune in to the down mood du jour, so I outed myself to pre-empt being taken incorrectly, you know how easy it is to misinterpret the written word.

Everyone gets a spot of the blues here and there, don’t they? I actually thought it’d more or less be a fly by statement : ) Let me say now though, thank you for your kind thoughts…those of you who know me, I guess I understand the concern, you must know by now I tend to work through my own life stuff and tell you about it on the flip side (hmmm, is that a bad thing?)….do I need a real live – real time ‘go to’ person?

It got me thinking about how people present themselves via blogs, internet, e-mail even…some people are talking in text exactly how they would in life (sans the eye contact and the ever so important body language) and for the most part are ‘themselves’ – that is exactly how I feel about myself here and when I comment elsewhere. I don’t say things I wouldn’t be willing to say should we meet in a public forum.

The one caveat: the longer I speak here, the more you get to know me and so what would be left to ask me in person? Hopefully a lot, hopefully it would lead to a longer more interesting dialogue and it would all be even better since our words would now be mixed with voice, and its cadence and delivery can make any conversation come truly alive (or it could break the previous text chemistry totally). Not with my friends though, they’ve been digging me a long time…

That being said, I don’t spend a whole lot of time in chat rooms (like: none) and other open forums where people could become computer ‘friends’ bc the truth is I like to see, hear and spend time with real humans too much. And a nice hug/snug/kiss upon arrival and departure cannot be done by any machine (or none that I am aware of).

I know that some people live vicariously through their computers, I just want it to be known that while I love this little machine, it doesn’t run my life, it merely is a means to fact check and discuss different topics with you : ) and I sincerely hope I didn’t blow it by sharing too much personal information that day or any other day…

FYI…I am in a fine Zen-like state now, how about you…where are you at today? And is that with your live ‘peeps’ as well as with me here on-line? Or if the two are entirely different experiences for you, please, if you would – describe the thoughts/feeling associated with on-line vs real people, I’d like to know…  

I’m going out now…talk ‘live’ to someone – or anyone : ) (uh-oh, am I being paranoid? hahaha…)

Oh yeah, Happy Hump Day, maybe you should go see/talk/smooch someone ‘live’ also?

Politics 2008: the man with the two sided mouth

Frankly, McCain McScares me…how about you?

 

This video shows just a snippet of the man we’d get if he arrives in the White House and since we already have one of these talking-out-of-both-sides-of-my-mouth men already there, do we need another?

 

By the way, neither Dubya nor McCain do the two talking very eloquently, is that what we want? Yet another inarticulate, flip flopping, double talking, mega-military spending, more tax cuts for my cronies, lying idiot for us and the rest of the world to hate?

 

At the end of this three minute video, it says big media won’t write this story, so pass this video along to ten people, so I’m asking you to send the link to this blog entry to ten people you know, and they can send it to ten people…you know the drill…

 

It also ends with a whispered…’psssttt…do something’ so that’s what I’m doing, what’re you going to do??

 

 **I just want you to know that I was actually scanning youtube videos about Obama just for writing inspiration when I found this interesting snack about our republican candidate…

 

Re: more China blog entries, well, I can only say that years ago I used to accuse my digging Norwegian Elkhound/German shepard dog of having friends in China, thus the deep hole digging to go visit across the globe via my once hellish looking backyard. As I, the human mother of said doggie, delved into all things involving China (including all things related to US dealings) I found myself falling headlong into that same hole, now I understand why Elke just couldn’t stop…the s**t is deeper than you can ever know…and once in, you cannot get out.

Larry, thanks for the site info: http://www.iStayGreen.org the Serengeti trip is right up there with me – maybe you can check out http://www.ecohatchery.com/ it’s a friends’ site geared towards making busy people green easily, but I’ll blog about her another day, she deserves the attention : )
 

Random acts of lewd funniness, weirdness and just plain sweetness

** comments at the end today**

I’m leaving the bay area for the ride down south later this am, so again I’m going light and sweet on the subject matter today. It’s been a treat to visit with Mischa and Boggzy, they are amazing and so easy to hang with I wish we lived closer to each other…

Deeper issues manana, yes? – Today…today is about ‘moments’

I’m positive we all have ’moments’ with strangers but why does it seem like I have more than the average Jane/Joe? I don’t really mind, I love a good laugh, but I often wonder, if this is a universal thing for most of you, too?

Here’s just a sampling of this past weeks’ incidents:

One night I stopped in a local venue to meet friends; there was a band, I wasn’t into their music but the singer had a deep raspy voice I liked as background music. I made busy talking and all that and then they played their last song of the set. It was hysterical…it was called, ‘the only good thing in life I do is eat pussy’ and the singer stripped down to a US flag g-string and walked around wailing this chorus, it was a very funny finish to an ‘eh’ musical set.

A minute later, a man walks up to me, not any of my friends and two of them are totally gorgie, and he says, ‘Hi, oh God I hope you won’t slap me in the face for this…’ I said, ‘wait, what, why would I slap you in the face?’ he says, ‘well, my friends told me to pick a woman in this place and I chose you, (sounds pretty juvie so far, right?) then they told me I had to come and tell you that the only good thing I do in life is eat pussy.’ I won’t tell you my response, but we couldn’t stop laughing. His friends also wanted the woman, me, to turn around and smile back at them, I did but I held my hand up high like I was going to crack their friend upside the head. It was a lewdly funny and random thing, yes? no?

Three days ago, my kid talked me into going inside Carl’s Jr to get her chicken stars, (I hate fast food) so we’re standing in this insanely long line. I watched a man clean windows and then I complimented him on his style with a squeegie, then a woman in front of me line chatted me up and when a natural pause occurred I heard a man yell loudly, ‘excuse me, miss, can you tell me what time of day it is?’ I looked up bc my kid poked me and she was giggling. I looked up to see him staring at me, bag of food (garbage) in his hand…everyone else in Carl’s Jr looked at us, too. I said, ‘oh yes, it’s 12:30′ he still stares and finally says, ‘oh good, then I have time…’ Hmmm, ok. But, clearly he looked for my response so I said, ‘well, then, I’m glad you have the time…good for you’ and I shrugged at my kid. The man walked away and the whole line broke into laughter. Is that just weird or what? 

…then Friday morning, an older man, an ex-body builder who now has a penchant for training blonds at Gold’s Gym, walked up to me and said, ‘Listen, I’m old and you know I am harmless, but I just wanted to tell you that I think you’re perfect and you make this old man wish for younger days.’ Then he leaned in and kissed me on the forehead. When he backed up he focused on my face, and said, ‘I’m going to tell you something from a 78 year old mans’ perspective, bc you notice and measure beauty differently. YOU don’t even need make up,’ (yeah, right, but I appreciate the thought) and then, ‘what color are your eyes?’ I laughed at that, ‘I know, they’re weirdly camouflage colored, huh?’

Then he totally dropped me. He said, ‘I wouldn’t say they’re weird, I would say they’re soulful’ – the only other person to ever say that was my father…

He told me to just have fun with my work out’s bc ‘you know that you need nothing changed.’

I just think it’s sweet that I can make an old man’s day…and he could totally make mine, too : )

I am curious though, does this kind of thing happen to any of you???  

Dave, a two word comment about aliens? ‘It’s true.’ That’s it?! Would you care to elaborate? Please? Share a good story maybe…? I’ll be checking out your site later…

One special night…or 2

**commenter responses at the end…
Hey, it’s Saturday and I am off on a weekend road trip, have laptop will travel : )

Going to see some pals, will see you here on Monday : ) but…

…before I go I just wanted to tell you a slice of life story blended with a slice of life story…

Early this am I woke from a dream, oh and what a dream it was, that ‘Sawyer’ from the TV series ‘Lost’ and I were just finishing a massive make out session (yeah, that’s it, but making out can be very sexy in and of itself, no?)…

…and he was in the middle of begging me to run away with him (we were already in Hawaii, run away to where? Oh, but if we do run can I be back by next Friday bc I won’t commit past then, although for Sawyer I might re-up for an extra 2 weeks)…

Yes, I am that totally legendary in my own mind, in my dreams : )

I woke up smiling and with this story and song on my mind.

…a few years ago, who knows, five or maybe more, who cares? I arrived at the Greek Theater to see Chris Isaak with someone else I cannot recall at the moment but I was driving fast to get there early. I really wanted to see Chris Isaak sing my favorite song in person.

I pulled up to the parking valet and I heard my song playing, s**t, I momentarily dropped my head onto my hands covering the steering wheel in mock (sort of) disgust. I’d missed it…mega-bummer. Ok, so park the car and catch a listen to the rest of the tunes was all I could do, but I was pissed at myself, and had a running commentary going on: should’ve left earlier, driven even faster, etc…

We found our seats and I sat and listened and when I thought he was wrapping up my least fave song I went and bought 2 drinks for me and my friend. As I came back in the beginning intro to my fave song started again and I wondered what was going on but I was focused on getting to my seat without spilling my drinks all over the place.

As I approached, I looked up at my friend, we were seated right on the aisle, one with space and a railing right in front, she was looking at me and laughed. She shook her head at me, I didn’t even notice everyone else was looking at me also. I handed her the drink, then turned and sat down and there, right in front of me was Chris Isaak singing into a microphone. He saw the shocked look on my face, and he smiled knowing I just hadn’t seen him, how I missed him crooning up the aisle right behind me, I’m just not sure, hahaha…

He leaned right against that railing, crossed his legs and sang the entire song to me. I just kept eye contact and smiled. I was loving this action; my friend leaned in and said ‘oh man, how embarrassing.’ I didn’t look at her, I just said, ‘hell no, I’m being serenaded by the man himself…’

Concerts don’t get much cooler than that.

Here’s the song….and oh, this video, he’s red hot, she’s red hot and it is hot in here…check it out:

How about you, ever been serenaded by anyone?

Your comments here or @ Lmdevin@att.net or Lillian@lilliandevin.com are always welcome, you know that. Thanks for reading…enjoy the weekend! Ciao (IAYS)!

Indian Joe: thanks for the ackowledgment of the ‘funk’ it’s gone now, back to Zen, it’s more peaceful here. Love all those songs (and the one above) and wow, you used the term ‘…in the offing…’ cool. Welcome to edgy dreamer : ) and yes, the known and unknown universes are vast so anything could be, and well…I believe in miracles of all kinds.

Sara, thank you for your response to ‘interview with The Pakistani Spectator’ though I’m not sure inner strength is something me or anyone else can teach you or anyone else, it’s a wonderful suggestion and I will think about how I would instruct another to be this way, it just is for me, guess I’m just lucky?

Richard, sorry you were taken in by BCE, a scam is a scam by any other name just as a rose is a rose is a rose, I’m going with the flowers myself, they smell nicer : )

People believe in aliens, oh yes, they do…

This is dedicated to Mischa and the Tao group…just because : )

Listen, I assure you that I’ll get back to the research and all that pulling together of material re: China, the US and every other nation/culture (if women and violence occur there it’ll be spoken about here eventually), just not today.

…and mostly bc I’ve slipped into a minor funk, I’m not positive why, but even if I did know it might just be TMI for you so I’ll work on becoming at one with it myself…(I wrote this part last night, see how I am, projecting funk into the next day…)

Now, I can’t say I’m totally just ‘over it’ but I don’t feel knocked into next week anymore and that’s definitely much better : )

Let’s just have fun and talk about aliens today, can we just do that, indulge me till I’m full on Zen and much much better? Please?

Thanks : ) you knowww…when polled it turns out 60% of people do believe in aliens, space aliens…and personally, I think it’s an easy belief to have really…I can’t relate the study or ‘stats’ breakout here re: that 60% factor, but does it matter? We all know statistics is the math of skewing things to look however you want them to, so even if it were 10% give or take, the point is many people do believe…

But, what if the question was rephrased? As in: do you believe that alien beings walk amongst us? Loooking like other earthlings…And if you can get your arms around that concept, can you believe that they have time to blog in from, say, a space shuttle craft? I have other q’s but I don’t want to make your head explode ; ) not now anyway…

Hmmm, I think most people would go along with that very first q, bc how do we know that there’s NOT other life out there, it seems arrogant (to me) to not believe it’s at least a possibility…like our ‘intelligence’ has us being superior here on earth? Take a look around.

But what about the other 2 q’s…hmmm…that’s where you’d lose most people, aliens here? & blogging? well, where/what blog and why?? Why not just show up and say ‘take me to your leader.’

I’ll tell you if that happened to me I would not take them to George W Bush! I could see myself getting squirmy about explaining why, but I just could not do them such diservice. He’d probably react by trying to annihilate the poor beings, nothing like another war game for little Georgie.

Anyway, I just want to turn you on to a blog that has ‘alien presence’: http://michellemoquin.wordpress.com/

FYI…if you’re going to read there, do it at your own risk, that’s my only disclaimer. Think long and hard about that before you just click through ; ) oh and you better have time on your hands, you’ll need to read the archives from Nov 07 to even attempt to understand. Good space sc-fi or reality, you decide…

The Pakistani Spectator interviews Edgy Dreamer

Michelle Moquin was interviewed by ‘The Pakistani Spectator,’ a few weeks ago, and apparently after she listed my site as one of her ‘top five favorite blogs’ they tuned in here and asked me to interview.

Thanks for that Mischa, it certainly has bumped traffic here at edgy dreamer. And, you know, for the most part I actually am in a relaxed state of Zen (or fakin’ it till I make it) today I just am not…Zen…but I’m going to go handle that which is interfering with my state and hopefully return tomorrow all Zen again : )

http://www.pakspectator.com

Here’s the interview:

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?
My site is ‘Edgy Dreamer: Dreaming on the edge…’ I use the moniker ‘Zen Lill’ I’ll give the definitions for those words as they describe me and to a certain degree, my blog site. ‘Edgy’ – daring, provocative and trend setting (oh yes, don’t I wish that…) and ‘Zen’ – enlightenment attained through meditation, self contemplation and intuition. I’m not totally enlightened yet, I’m just an imperfect being like everyone else and I’m a dreamer, too (translation: a bit of a fool), and as such, I often need/request forgiveness. What else can a Zen edgy dreamer do…? I’m a female US citizen, live in Southern CA now, I wish I could say I’m an ex-patriot still living in Singapore but that’s not the case anymore…and that’s just life…

Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?
I like to think I become more articulate in my writing voice, and I admit that words flow much easier for me writing my own truth as a non-fiction blogger than all my previous years of fiction writing, though they were fun in their own way. Progressive growth in writing is like any other growth for me, personal/emotional/intellectual or otherwise, it’s an on-going part of life and I think we all like to think that everyday we just get better.

I’m wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with blogging?
Most memorable was when I received comments that changed the way I was living my life entirely, an anonymous person’s words spoke to me, which was so great. I’d like to believe that I do that for others inadvertently also. I’ve received long commentary on US politics that were eye opening, it’s also happened with entries I wrote about relationships/alpha males/females. I even had my own self appointed ‘armchair’ therapist for a time, hahaha, and that was compelling commentary. I allow commenters to e-mail me privately and it always amazes me how many shy people read my writing and want to speak up, just not in a public space.

What do you do in order to keep up your communication with other bloggers?
I read several blogs weekly, some daily. Some I comment in on a sporadic basis, some I comment on everyday. I love to see what the ‘topic du jour’ is an anothers’ mind. I’m an observer of people and enjoy seeing what makes them tick through their choice of subject and their approach to it…it’s so much more nuanced when it’s the written word.

What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?
Internet and e-mail campaigns like Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. He’s created a whole new style of grass roots campaigning and people who normally would not be donors are ready, willing and able to give small amounts to his campaign, weekly/monthly and on an ‘as needed’ basis, as you can see by the staggering numbers, it’s one successful strategy. Youtube videos are pretty cool also.

Do you think that these new technologies are effective in making people more responsive?
Absolutely, everything is in ‘real time’ now. The 24/7 part of it can be a boon or perceived as mildly daunting, depending on your emotional state on a given day.

What do you think sets Your site apart from others?
Oh boy, maybe it’s my conversational tone while talking about politics, relationships, and everyday meanderings? And, hmmm, I don’t know, maybe it’s because I like to talk about sex/relationships every now and again, mostly on Wednesdays : ) better known as Hump Day.

If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?
Inner strength. No further explanation necessary, especially if you met me in person.

What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?
On a happiness scale of 1-10, I try to run at least at 7-8 daily or I sit and re-evaluate my attitude and go from there. So, I have numerous moments of relative happiness pretty regularly. Gloomiest, oh, for sure it was the day my father died, I was nine months pregnant, and 3,000 miles away, it was a very sad day for me. I wasn’t ready for that.

If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for – what would your top 3 choices be?
Only 3?! Cambodia/Vietnam, India (Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala, Bangalore…), Kenya and Capetown, SA, the Andes Mountains, and then add London, HK and Dubai and the Amalfi Coast, sorry, I love travel, and experiencing a different culture, so this list just skims the surface really. Lately I’ve been craving a ski in the Chilean Mountains, too.

What is your favorite book and why?
For fact based fiction: Ken Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth’ it’s a long saga about England during the twelfth century, the story takes place during the time known as the Anarchy. I made snoring noises years ago when someone recommended it, but Follett’s writing is so visual and visceral, I was there inside the story within two paragraphs, I highly recommend it. Follett just released the sequel twenty years later, ‘World Without End’ he’s still quite the wordsmith, a very talented writer. On the self help front: ‘A New Earth’ by Eckhard Tolle.

What’s the first thing you notice about a person (whether you know them or not)?
If they’re male or female, hahaha, then eyes, I can tell a lot about anyone through a few minutes of good eye contact…then body language…that’s more than you asked for…

Is there anyone from your past that once told you couldn’t write?
I once had a creative writing teacher who didn’t like one of my main character outlines, at all. Since the character was loosely based on me, I just switched teachers; we weren’t going to get along. She never said anything was wrong with my prose though…

How bloggers can benefit from blogs financially?
Oh, there are lots of ways, in fact, I have the writer of Entrepreneur magazine’s ‘The Ultimate Guide to Search Engine Optimization’ Jon Rognerud, a long-time best friend (when everyone else is on vacation) who is assisting me with my site as I write this interview. There are several avenues to explore: link love, permalinks, oh I could go on but since I haven’t completed my reading of his book yet, it’s all just premature rambling on my part. Who knows, it could lead to a monetarily successful endeavor, I sincerely hope so, because then I’ll be living my dream, writing and earning money for it; that would be heaven and total freedom…I can write anywhere.

Is it true that who has a successful blog has an awful lot of time on their hands?
I don’t know about others but I often write up several blog entries on a week/weekend afternoon and then tweak the writing and/or write something entirely new during the week based on time availability. That being said, I’m a curious one and have no greater love than reading/researching and/or writing in my spare time.

What role can bloggers of the world play to make this world friendlier and less hostile?
This is an interesting question, I usually spend time speaking out against…countries, cultures, etc…that allow or just don’t pay any attention to women’s issues, violence, poverty, etc…and it’s fun to just call out US politics/politicians whenever the mood strikes. The truth of the matter is that we all have to get knowledgeable enough and upset enough to act and so while my entries may ‘call out’ a nation/culture/behavior, I hope that the info will show people how others live and hopefully they will gain some insight, empathy and compassion. When people experience those emotions they are usually ready to create change…or at least hope for change, no?

Who are your top five favourite bloggers?
www.michellemoquin.com/wordpress is definitely my daily fave, full of wit and wisdom and aliens, with many regular commenters, always very interesting… http://bdgroupllc.blogspot.com/ is interesting political banter. http://whyaminotsurprised.blogspot.com/ is a great 2x weekly stop for me, this woman writes about racism, http://www.ted.com/ a site that has ‘inspired talks by the world’s greatest thinkers and doers,’ and it is sooo interesting http://revellian.com/ the R man has a certain writing style I find engaging, no matter what his topic is…

Is there one observation or column or post that has gotten the most powerful reaction from people?
I think it’s a toss up between my three day alpha males/females series and a four day series that was actually a commenters political rant, he allowed me to run it along with my own comments and questions, both series certainly made my private e-mail inbox full, it was fun and I love the hearing everyone’s opinions, that’s what this life is all about, expressing ourselves, right?

What is your perception about Pakistan and its people?
Well, it seems like women have a lot to overcome there to just be treated reasonably. This is so troubling because I think it’s important for women to be equal to men in this day and age. It takes men and women to create a successful society. Would that personal opinion be baffling to a Pakistani male or female?

Have you ever become stunned by the uniqueness of any blogger?
Not really, I’ve read all kinds of content, we all have a unique take on things, and when I find a blogger I like I tend to go back and check them out at least 2x’s a week.

What is the most striking difference between a developed country and a developing
country?
Hmmm, this is an invitation to an all day conversation, hahaha, but I’ll keep it brief.
Under UN rule countries can determine that distinction for themselves, but the usual factors are: infrastructure development, per capita income, and regarding the human resource aspect: education enrollment, adult literacy rate and GDP is part of that equation also. In my own opinion, and generally speaking of course, developed countries have a bit more entitlement mentality going on and developing countries have a stronger work ethic and a determination to improve lives, they thrive on hope for their future.

What is the future of blogging?
I think there’s strength in the number of opportunities to help others worldwide, if only through reading of anothers’ experience; that’s exactly why I read some of the blogs I do, the authors are of another nationality, race, etc…and for a short span of time I get to see things from their perspective only. I think it’s a gift to have that kind of experience right here in my own house or local WiFi café’.

You have also got a blogging life, how has it directly affected both your personal
and professional life?
I can write the very quick version of a business letter/e-mail requesting info, donations, time/energy and I think that’s a direct reflection of my daily writing. I don’t have to think so hard to find the right words. I’ve improved my proofreader/writer skills for marketing campaigns I assist with for charities/school board/newsletters, etc…
In my personal life, some friends and acquaintances have read my blog and ask me more direct opinion questions, and I answer more directly. I think they may have perceived me differently before reading my blog, and possibly I may not have been as open as I am now, this has been a growing experience personally for me in a big way.

What are your future plans?
I’m open, totally open, I keep life planning loose, I’d like to do lots of traveling, and writing. I’m not in a position to plan much past next Friday at the moment…

Any Message you want to give to the readers of The Pakistani Spectator?
I actually wish they could give me a clue. I read about the amount of violent occurrences women suffer in your country, and it makes me feel pretty helpless towards my global sisters. Maybe I should travel there. I’m just seeking to understand how and why this violence is so prevalent. It’s hard to imagine, the statistics are staggering, how very sad…

And that’s it.

Commenters fr yesterday: Thank you, my sisters for not railing me, I think some of you identified with my words? I have to say, that all that being said, none of us are perfect but I’ll let you sort out how and when to say ‘I’m sorry’ and you know, make things right again with your man ; O

Mischa, you got it perfectly, and your last paragraph – ah well, we’ll talk off-line…

Oxytocin, can we be serious…?

Hey, hi, it’s Wednesday, how exciting, it’s Hump Day already : )

Recently, I read a link on the bottom of one of Ed’s e-mail’s re: oxytocin. A male doctor preformed some experiments re: oxytocin and ‘love chemistry.’ Hmmm, yes, as if studying the usage of oxytocin (and/or pheromones, is that the next experiment?) on prairie dogs or some such rodent he chose has the weird and wonderful human elements of sexual attraction and love all sewed up. Methinks not…

I let the whole ‘study’ go bc of course, looking to itty bitty animals for clues into human sexual behavior seems absurd. I mean…you’re kidding me, right?…we’re a lot like baboons also, would and should a doctor study their love and mating rituals and compare them with humans, too?

I’m sorry, Ed, no offense, it’s just blog talk and you’re allowed to bitch me out if you feel the need.

I think I’ll play the female ‘love doctor’ for a moment…I did better research…and it was this simple…

I read a brief article about the chemistry of ‘love’ – the only good part, the ONLY gem in that article, (to me: that’s my disclaimer) is just below…

Read it, think on it and I’ll catch you on the flip side: ‘…romance is about relationships and getting to know another person. It is about the discovery of your own beauty through the eyes of another. Parts of what makes it feel good, of what keeps you open to receiving, is your recognition of qualities that are the same and/or complimentary to each other…’

There was more written but I chose this small segment for a reason, and the part that spoke to me is in bold, all that ‘Men are from Mars/Women Venus’ stuff notwithstanding…to me that one sentence sums up what the essence of any relationship (but especially in the love department) is all about: assisting each other in seeing our own beauty and growing that exponentially by trying regularly to bring out the best in each other, if you and your partner are not doing that, you’ve both (or one of you) has fallen down on the job : ) and oh, that’s such a bummer, yes it is…

It’s not like you have to have meaningful dialogue all day everyday, like I said it’s the essence and if you get the feeling that who you’re with is on your side in this way, then: good deal. Someone who’s ready, willing and able to point out your beauty to you when maybe you’ve simply overlooked it or cannot not see it that day…that’s it, all other garbage aside.

OK, it’s not ‘garbage’ but you don’t need to hear blah blah blah blah blah blah blah when simply blah blah will do, do you?

Do you agree with the above or is there actually much more to it??

Listen, I am sooo NOT an authority on this subject : )

Help me out here, give me your ‘two’ on the matter…Tell me here or privately @ Lmdevin@att.net

So hey, Happy Hump Day : ) may you recieve exactly what you hope for today ; ) and if you’re not, you may want to ask yourself why not? I’m just trying to help you get lucky, that’s all…please don’t be offended by the q.

**As a nod to a male friend, oh kjo/tt hahaha, who asked me to blog an entry re: ‘women and helping around the house’ well, I’ve thought about it and bc I just don’t want the female hate mail, I’ll just give my two cents and leave you with a quote: Ok, ladies, uh, you don’t get whining rights if you insist that whatever it is you ask your man to do gets done exactly YOUR way, (uh-oh I can see the hate mail now)

…and here’s the quote: ‘praise loudly, blame softly’ (that includes all that critiquing also) I know it’s a drag sometimes bc you really wanted that tomato chopped smaller but if it must be smaller, do it yourself, if it really doesn’t matter, take the opportunity to just shut the f**k up. You can cut the s**t smaller when it’s on your own plate.

Try to think: would I talk to my best girlfriend this way? I’m not equating your man with your girls but men are sensitive beings, too, and they will never cop to that (don’t be stupid and ask them either).

Hey, it’s not always easy, I know, I had a live-in long ago who folded towels really bad (sooo bad), but he was sweet (and good looking…) as they come and he looked so damn happy (and hunky…) to be helping, so, hahaha, we (I) just lived with it, so I’m asking you to just release the urge to control the ‘domain’ you share, it’s just a thought, do what you will : )

China & Sudan: financial promiscuity

Oh no, more about China?? ‘fraid so, folks…but I can’t apologize, it’s my blog and as such I get to choose the topic, as my reader, you choose to read it and I am very humbly thankful to you for that always : )

But, today’s China rant, well, instead of airing US bedroom news, let’s talk about that ‘minor’ issue in Sudan instead. Just for a minute, just today’s entry. When dealing with China, there’s a lot to cover (told you yesterday) and I will get to it all, (I hope) just give me time and ocassional breaks, peeps, just a little bit of time…another promise: not one nation will go unnoticed, eventually…

Let me be succint: efforts to end the ‘Darfur conflict’ is totally outwieghed by – guess what – oh yes, that: dirty sexy big big money and that requires doing business as usual. It’s no secret that China and Sudan have ‘intimate economic ties’ (yes, they’re in the sack together also, there’s a whole lot of financial promiscuity going on in this world).

I like how the Chinese pretend to be – who, Switzerland(?) – with that stance of believing in ‘non-interference’ and ‘respect for national sovereignty’ oh yes, and that’s particularly easy to uphold when your the one supplying the arms for this current conflict, a three year ‘conflict.’ Apparently, it’s easy to turn a blind eye when it’s necessary to continue ‘business as usual.’ …and the s**t just gets deeper, 70% of Sudan’s income generated by oil sales is spent on arms, and China plays a ‘direct’ role in supplying said arms, that’s a total WTF?!

I guess it’s also no secret that for 10+ years China has been the cheek to cheek economic partner of Sudan’s, China being the leading developer and purchaser of Sudanese oil. China also plays a huge role in agriculture, mining, as well as in the medical and education arenas, yes and the capper is the fairly recent 1.15billion contract to build a major railway, how in bed can you get?? (I just love all the sexual innuendo in this rant, meooow)

Common sense as well as conventional wisdom is apparently suggesting that China ‘should’ make it clear to Sudan that if they continue to obstruct progress towards peace it will damage China-Sudan relations, up to and including breaking trade and investments ties, hmm, hahaha, oh reeeaaallllly, no biz as usual, NOT bloodly likely. Nobody’s booting anybody out of bed over this, c’mon now, don’t be naive…

They ‘should’ also suspend all arms sales and military cooperation until the genocide, the atrocities stop, again, not bloody likely, what and leave so much cash on the table? Are you mad?! Oh yes, and the words billiions, trillions, gazillions have a certain ring to them, don’t they?

I like this best: China ‘should’ publicly acknowledge mass killings, human suffering and the displacement of so many Sudanese people, oh that sounds so very warm and fuzzy, but I’ll repeat, not bloody likely, ain’t going to happen, sorry but don’t shoot the messenger…

And if you’d like to give your two on the subject, click on commments and have at it, I welcome your thoughts/opinions : )

PS - listen, I’ve decided that since I’ve been paying homage to Hump Day (Wednesday’s) it would be a great day to lighten up and talk about sex and/or oh no ‘relationships’ (the men will be taking a powder on this one, hahaha, I’ll try to keep it interesting if I go that route ok, dudes? Don’t go getting nervous…)

I’ve had a few requests for the topic and I enjoy the banter so…it’s coming your way manana